Quote:
Originally Posted by tweake
however ec-1118 is not a great yeast taste wise. others like k1v-1116 are far better.
your not going to stop ec-1118. only way to get a sweet mead is to let it ferment it bone dry, then rack it off the yeast, stabilize and then backsweeten.
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IME, not at all true. My first traditional mead batches were using regional wildflower honey and EC-1118... I formulated it so that it would finish NOT dry. EC-1118 left little, if any, [yeast] flavors with the honey really coming through. Of course, the honey was strong in flavor to start with which, IMO, is really important (almost critical).
My first batches went to 18% (my goal) and I knew they would need to age for a year, or so, before putting any into a glass. Another case where patience is seriously rewarded.
I also made a blackberry melomel at the same time. Using D47 and it wasn't all that good earlier (at about 8-9 months old).
Essentially, don't tread mead making like you would brewing beer.
Some basics I've picked up from people doing this for more than a few years...
1. Don't heat the honey. Keeping it under 110-100F is considered better than going warmer. Even IF you do think you need to pasteurize the honey, keep it as low as possible (~140F would be the absolute highest I would go).
2. Select honey that you enjoy the flavor of.
3. Ingredient quality is critical. Quality in, quality out.
4. Be selective about which yeast you pick. Treat it right and you'll be well rewarded. Most mazers I know use
Lalvin strains for their yeast.
5. Depending on how strong you want to make the mead, you have options for nutrient additions. You can select to step-feed it nutrient, but stop at/by the 1/3 break point (where 1/3 of the sugars have been consumed by the yeast).
6. If you're going for a high ABV batch, plan to step feed it the honey as well. Start off formulating to about 14%. Once it's been fermenting a bit (don't let it go too far, stop when it's about 1/2 way through) start feeding it more honey. You'll need to figure out the end volume, including the additional honey when you start the batch. Start with the same amount of water you would have initially, but less honey. It's not that difficult once you think about it a bit.
7. If you're not going to use the above method, then you'll want to make sure you use enough yeast, and get it going before pitching it into the high gravity must. Otherwise you can shock the yeast and it will have serious issues.
8. Mead needs more nutrient than beer does. Basically, even though honey contains a good amount of sugar (about 70-80% sugar content) it contains little of the other things yeast need in order to do their thing. This is why you add nutrient and/or energizer to a must.
I also found the forums on the Got Mead? site to be [normally] very helpful. The calculator tool on the main site is also a good starting point for formulating how much honey to get the mead to meet your goal.
Unfortunately, some of them have been making mead for so long that they don't remember how newbee's feel. 
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